Friday, June 10, 2011

Sleepless With Prednisone and Doxycycline

Yesterday was our second veggie box from Whitefeather Organics CSA. Since I am sans car here in Stevens Point, I took a short bike ride to the pick up location. The box is generously filled with radishes, leeks, scallions, mixed lettuces, about three pounds of spinach, asparagus, pea tops, turnips, green garlic and golden oyster mushrooms. This is a fabulous, high gourmet quality, locally grown offering from the sands of Central Wisconsin. This part of the state is the terminal moraine, the area where the glacier stopped and dropped sand, silt, and minerals. I am eating from the earth where a glacier once rested.

With all of my good nutrition and my determination to stay healthy, I'm afraid that the eczema on face, hands and wrists is beginning to wear on me. My immune system started to feel compromised. I went to my family practice doctor; we've been together since 1979, when he first opened his clinic. We stayed together as I transitioned from using him as a primary care physician, to using him when I have a health crisis but would chose to resolve my issue through rest, herbs, exercise, nutrition, acupuncture, massage and Network Spinal Analysis. I usually tell him my plans for resolving an issue using the alternatives to allopathic, then proceed. On Wednesday, I asked for more aggressive help and that I would be open to using drugs.

Wednesday night, I began a course of pharmaceuticals for my skin: prednisone and doxycyline. Although I am not happy about it, I am already feeling relief from the burning under the skin, less visible blazing inflammation and the end to the scratching open of my skin during my sleep.

Sleep is another issue. Yesterday was the first full day of taking the medication. Last night, after three hours of sleep, I woke up, and was unable to return to sleeping and dreaming. This is unusual for me. Whenever awaked during the night, I can almost always return to sleep within minutes. In those sleepless hours, I listened to the rain, and felt gratitude for the coolness of the air and the slow steady drink to the thirsty plants. There was an appreciation for the pre-dawn sounds of this rather quiet city. But every time I thought I was drifting off into sleep by the sweet scent of rain, I could feel the twisted mandala of the prednisone and doxycycline in my body and in my auric field. I tried to chant, but scenes of a disturbing film noir visited me, intermingling with the structure of the pharmaceutical mandala. I found that if I started to imagine cleaning cupboards, washing walls, or polishing a pan, I could change the structure. Mostly though, the mandala won-over. After all, I did say that I was open to using these chemicals.

I've been awake since before one in the morning. With a fine mist of rain, I took a ride on my bicycle to the river, (the Wisconsin River), then to Emy J's for a cup of coffee. The cool moist rain felt good on my face. It was like receiving a natural facial. I tried not to think about the heavy metals or possible radiation in the water from the sky. Unfortunately, that was like being told to NOT think about monkeys.

I second the wild magnolia's wishes for your well-being! It's hard to have to take chemicals when one's system is otherwise clean, but I agree, at times there's no choice. I battle with rosacea (high Pitta!) and use an antibiotic cream on my face nightly to keep it at bay. Maybe I have it under control with diet and supplements but honestly I'm afraid to come off the cream and test that...the spots take a long time to clear up once they start.

I think about the potentially radioactive rain too. Depressing that the world has come to this.

Me again - I was just studying a book about Tulsi and among many, many other modes of action is listed "radioprotective: studies (in animals) have shown that (a low dosage of) OS leaf extract protects normal living cells against the damaging effects of ionizing radiation." So until we learn to walk between the raindrops, let's keep drinking our Tulsi tea!